1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilets for disposing of human waste, and particularly to a toilet for human beings that is self contained in a small standard toilet size. The invention recycles liquid for flushing through distillation and eliminates liquid and solid waste through dehydration, evaporation, aeration and grinding, resulting in a dry sanitized disposable waste powder product.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of toilets is almost universal in today""s society. Conventional toilets use anywhere from one to seven gallons of water each time the toilet is flushed, at least in most industrialized countries. The waste of water continues whether the human waste is liquid or solid. The net effect is a tremendous consumption of water throughout the United States and other industrialized countries.
Other environments are such that disposing of human waste in lakes and oceans and canals is in some cases prohibited and in other cases certainly undesirable as a way of eliminating human waste. This particular problem is evident in the boating industry with the direct dumping of human waste overboard into the surrounding waters. Thus, there exists in conventional toilet use and in certain environmental impact uses, the need for a toilet for disposing of human waste that does not consume water and that does not result in disposing of raw sewerage or raw human waste into the surrounding environment.
Other forms of disposing of sewerage and human waste include the use of septic tanks which are common in many parts of the United States and which often results in an increased bacterial count of surrounding water supplies, especially during heavy rains and the like. Although many areas are trying to rid themselves of septic tanks, they are still quite common.
Another problem is that chemical toilets utilize very toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid or chlorine, which are poured into a holding tank for purification purposes. Often the material can be ground up and treated with very undesirable toxic chemicals that can be harmful to the environment when the entire matter is released.
The present invention solves the problem by providing a toilet that dehydrates, sanitizes and reduces human waste to a safely disposable powder or ash that can be returned to the soil.
Many patents have been issued in which the drying of human waste occurs. Composting toilets such as U.S. Pat. 4,364,130 issued Dec. 21, 1982, to Persson are basically boxes with an agitation and aeration apparatus. They reduce the waste by removing the water content through natural ventilation means. This method deposits new waste on top of old, like an outhouse, without eliminating the odor and with very slow and undependable drying. This is undesirable in most cases.
Incineration toilets reduce the water content in human waste through heat as in baking. They also deposit new waste on top of old to deliver clumps of dried waste material. Alternative heat sources have also been used including heat from the tail pipe of an engine to remove wastewater content as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,888 issued Feb. 10, 1976, to Sturtevant. Here, grinding, pumping and metering delivers a steady flow of waste to a tailpipe for vaporization and the blowing of the waste powder into the air. This method is not desired or allowed in most regions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,930 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to Kishi, et al,. shows a device for drying raw sewerage. The device employees a plurality of heat balls which are paddled around and which allow for some dehydration of sewerage. The system here requires a fairly inefficient array of chemical elements, which attempt to dehydrate the waste materials.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,074, 5,230,164, and 5,564,133 all issued to Kishi continue the drying theory but fail to perform the operation in a small standard size unit. They also fail to explain how the toilet-bowl and intake pipes are flushed clean. They fail to answer many other practical operation problems that are solved within the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,724 issued Jun. 15, 1993 to Blankenship, shows an incinerator toilet with a removal catalyst container. One of the drawbacks of this device is that it uses catalyst pellets for reducing odor, which are inserted and removed for replacement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,924 issued to Hachima, on Jan. 11, 1994, shows a method and apparatus for disposing of body waste that includes inductive heating.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a compact, clean flushing and extremely efficient toilet. It uses a small amount of electrical energy for dehydration and an efficient grinder for producing a dry powder-like substance that is bagged and return to the environment without water consumption.
A toilet for disposing of human waste safely and sanitarily without chemicals or water consumption. The toilet utilizes compressed air and recycled liquids for toilet bowl cleaning. It is necessary to use both air and liquid for flushing because less force and too much liquid is used in a liquid-only system. With an air-only system, the toilet bowl cannot be cleaned.
A compressor is used to pressurize a tank. The tank air pressure is used to drive an air motor that grinds the waste and scrapes the dehydration chamber clean. The compressor""s air intake comes from the top inside of the toilet bowl, drawing out any odors from within the bowl. The compressor then blows this air through the dehydration chamber, aerating and dehydrating the waste material before venting to the outside.
The air intake from the toilet bowl not only deodorizes the bowl while in use but also delivers warm air for dehydration rather than the cold outside air used by some others. Further, the air in this invention is moving at a rate of 2-3 CFM. This slow air flow rate reduces the heat required by other blower fan units that heat and move over 20 CFM.
Compressed air is used for blowing the dry waste into the waste bag and a passive vent chamber is utilized for deodorizing. There is a heating element and a motor underneath the dehydration chamber. Blades are located inside the chamber to grind the material and scrap clean the inside surface of the chamber as air passes slowly through. The resultant powdered waste contents are stored in a bag or container until discarded. At least three sizes are planned; a standard full size toilet, a small compact toilet, and a remote base with a dehydration toilet seat. They will be available in 12 VDC, 120 VAC and 220 VAC electric.
The first improvement includes jet nozzles around and underneath the toilet seat and against the toilet bowl wall. These jets are facing downwards and release a mixture of liquid and air from a pressure tank for cleaning the toilet bowl walls and forcing the waste into the dehydration chamber through the sliding gate valve at the base of the toilet bowl.
The dehydration chamber includes a three-inch slide gate valve located at the top of the chamber (bottom of the bowl) for waste entry. A one and a half-inch slide gate valve is also located on the bottom/side of the chamber for a waste exit. A three-quarter-inch open port on the topside of the chamber vents the steam and odors from the dehydration chamber through the deodorization chamber. There is also a quarter inch open port on the center/side for receiving vent air and air pressure to blow the waste powder into the bagged containment area.
The dehydration chamber""s sliding valves are in the closed position when in use. The closed valves allow the dehydration process to be performed from a previous patron while providing an empty clean bowl for use by another patron.
The dehydration chamber also includes a domed heat plate. An electric coil is used to heat the heat plate. An air motor is used to grind the waste and scrape the bottom and sides of the chamber. It is necessary to grind and cut the waste into powder for the waste bag. It is also necessary to scrape the chamber clean so that an insulation layer does not build up reducing efficiency. Exhaust from the air motor goes to the dehydration chamber to assist in ventilation and movement of dried waste into the waste bag at the end of the cycle. The Kishi patent uses balls that will not cut and shred the material nor clean and scrape the insides of a chamber nor assist in ventilation.
This liquid is reclaimed through a copper coil, distilled from the steam created in the dehydration process. This distilled liquid is held in a reservoir that fills the flush chamber underneath. The flush chamber is pressurized with air to clean the toilet bowl. When the reservoir is full the excess water with steam and gas exit through the vent pipe. Under the reservoir is a flush chamber which holds one cup of liquid. When it is full, a ball floats to the top closing off the reservoir. When air pressure is sent to the flush chamber the float ball remains at the top closing off the reservoir while the water and air inside the chamber is mixed and sent to the bowl jets, flushing the toilet. When the flush cycle ends, the air pressure stops, making the float ball fall to the bottom of the chamber to allow liquid from the reservoir to enter until full and the ball is on top again.
There are two temperature sensors in the toilet. One sensor is in the heater controlling its temperature between 250 and 3000 degrees F. The other sensor is in the vent pipe detecting the difference between high steam heat over 212 degrees F and low dry heat under 200 degrees F. When the heat is high the dehydration process continues but when the temperature drops below 200 degrees there is no steam, this ends the dehydration process and blows the waste powder into the holding bag or container. Detecting the relative humidity through the temperature of the steam to regulate the toilet cycle will allow the unit to know when to end the heating process. It does not have to be programmed to run one hour like many others, when only five minutes may be needed for dehydrating a small deposit or may run up to an hour with large or multiple deposits.
The toilet can be used immediately after flushing and ready for another flush when the tank is pressurized within two minutes.
When a person has completed use of the toilet, the operation button is pushed. This opens the bowl valve and releases compressed air to the flush chamber sending liquid and air to clean the bowl. Sitting on the toilet seat will also start the compressor to draw odor from the toilet bowl while in use. The compressor will also be on during the dehydration process to aerate the dehydration and assist in venting. The compressor is only off when the tank is full, the dehydration process is complete, the dehydration chamber is empty and there is no one sitting on the seat.
There are three indicator lights. The green flush button light indicates that the tank is pressurized and ready to flushing. The yellow light indicates that the waste bag is heavy and it is time to change the waste bag. The red light indicates a fault in the toilets operation. If the red button pushed, it will open the bowl valve and shut down the unit for five minutes.
The dehydration chamber can hold multiple deposits on top of each other, at any time, even though the dehydration process is not completed and the waste is not dry enough for bagging. The vent temperature sensor will control the appropriate time needed for the dehydration process.
In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.